Oakland Passes Broad Public Safety Resolution Amid Rising Crime Concerns

Following a recent uptick in reported crime, Oakland city leaders plan to evaluate — and potentially expand — several key services and agencies focused on preventing and responding to violence and theft.

The Oakland City Council early Wednesday morning passed a resolution (PDF) directing the city administrator to evaluate how to hire and retain more 911 dispatchers and police officers, expand violence prevention programs, and create a grant program to provide surveillance equipment for local businesses.

“The increase in crime and the violent nature of some of those crimes over the past several months is just unacceptable,” Councilmember Dan Kalb, who proposed the resolution, told KQED. “We have to do as much as we can to help reduce crime in the short- and long-term.”

Crime rates in Oakland are significantly lower than they were throughout much of the 1990s and at a peak in 2012. But there has been a more recent uptick that’s put many residents on edge, including a 17% increase in violent incidents such as homicide and aggravated assault compared to this time last year, and a 44% increase in burglary and other property crimes, according to the city’s police department (PDF). The rate of vehicle theft in the city has also nearly doubled since before the pandemic.

Among its numerous goals, the broad public safety resolution orders the city administrator to produce a report outlining possible measures the city can take to address its short-staffed 911 dispatch center.

Oakland needs to fill at least 16 vacancies for 911 dispatchers, a position that offers a competitive salary — about $110,000 annually — but is emotionally draining work, with high rates of turnover.

In 2020, an Alameda County Grand Jury found that the Oakland Police Department was not answering emergency calls fast enough and was failing to adhere to state standards (PDF), which dictate that 95% of a department’s 911 calls be answered within 15 seconds. A 2022 report shows that Oakland’s emergency communication center only responded to about half of its calls within that time window (PDF).

The resolution also calls for recommendations on ways the city could create and implement a new grant program for small businesses looking to purchase security cameras.

In addition, Tuesday’s vote requires the city to evaluate and report on its CeaseFire program and other public safety programs, like the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO), which dispatches mental health workers to handle certain non-violent 911 calls in an effort to free up police officers for more dangerous situations and divert them from incidents that may be better handled by mental health experts. Additionally, the vote requires the city administrator to do a cost-benefit analysis of the city’s walking beat officers and non-police ambassadors.

The resolution also calls for legislation to create and fund an abbreviated police academy, also known as lateral police academies, in the current budget cycle, in order to “get some experienced officers in place more quickly than it takes with brand new officers, which takes a long, long time,” Kalb said.

While nearly every council member supported the resolution, some members of the public called in to say they disagreed with the fast-tracked police academy idea.

At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Oakland interim police chief Darren Alison stated that the lateral police academies “have not been wildly successful in the past.” He cited a past example where the Oakland Police Department ran one such academy. The program brought in 22 applicants, and none were successfully hired.

Kalb’s resolution is also looking for additional support from federal agencies, like the FBI, to assist Oakland in investigating unsolved homicides and shootings.

However, at 714 sworn officers, Oakland currently has more police than it’s ever had, Thao recently told KQED. In addition, she said, the governor has assigned six additional California Highway Patrol officers to work with the city.

Other public speakers and council members expressed concern over the focus on adding police instead of meeting basic needs and addressing the underlying reasons why robberies and other crimes have increased recently.

“The child tax credit ended, food stamps in California were slashed,” said Councilmember Carroll Fife. “What we need to do is make people feel safe by making sure their everyday needs are taken care of.”

Misty Cross, a mother and member of the Moms of Magnolia Street housing activist group, said to the council, “We got to talk about the issues that are creating this. When I think about the robberies and the bipping and everything going on, and people who are committing these crimes, these are people in poverty, these are people adapting to their survival mode.”

All findings and recommendations stemming from the resolution are due by the end of 2023.

Mayor Sheng Thao on Monday told KQED the city is working on many of the challenges the city plans to probe, including securing funding to expand police patrols, auditing the city’s gun violence prevention program, and approving 300 additional surveillance cameras around the city.

She also said she is working to obtain drones to assist police response to shootings. This comes after several recent homicides, including a mother of two who was shot and killed by a stray bullet on Friday night as she sat on a couch in her Laurel District home.

The mayor, however, admitted that the city recently missed a key deadline to apply for potentially millions of dollars in state funding to help combat retail theft. San Francisco, San José, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Palo Alto are among the many cities across the state that will receive funding over the next three years to buy surveillance equipment, build up investigative units, increase foot patrols, and prosecute more theft cases — but Oakland will not.

Thao attributed the mishap in part to “a personnel issue,” including understaffing in the city’s Economic Workforce Development Department.

“We’re putting in measures and mechanisms so that we would never miss an opportunity like this again,” Thao said. “It is very disappointing. I’m highly disappointed in myself.”